Switched
by theyhadadate
Summary: She closed her eyes and waited for the end that never came. He closed his eyes and waited for the one who never came back.
1. Chapter 1

She felt herself fall to the floor, the poison starting to make its way through her system. The professor was watching her with a bored expression on his face before standing and crossing to her side, bending down. She felt his fingers brush her hand as he pinched her bloodstained kerchief out of her limp grasp before he stood again, walking away from her. He must've signaled for somebody to get her soon to be dead body, because she felt somebody lift her up and carry her away. Others were assisting; she could see that, as another opened a door to an empty black carriage and put her on the wooden floor. The door shut with a resounding bang, and the carriage moved, rocking and bouncing and jostling her around.

Lights from the partially drawn curtains danced around her head as she started to lose consciousness. She was a fighter; she would fight this poison until the very last second, until her last breath. She'd seen it used before, on a man who was unaware of the information he held until the last moment. He'd gone down faster than she had, for he hadn't been expecting her to poison him. With recent events, she'd worried that the professor would soon try to use it on her. And he did, exactly as she suspected. It hadn't made her any more prepared, however; she wasn't careful enough.

Another startlingly painful cough escaped her as the carriage went around another bend. She went crashing against the door, lights twinkling above her from the impact. She knew she wouldn't last much longer.

With a sigh, she shut her eyes and thought of _him_: the rough stubble on his face, the ridiculous disguises, the way he kissed her just an hour ago…

Irene Adler closed her eyes, preparing for the end.

But the end never came.


	2. Chapter 2

John Watson bounded up the steps of his shared flat to find his flat mate shooting at the wall.

Again.

"What the hell are you doing?" He had his hands over his ears as he looked towards the black haired man in the dressing gown, sitting in a chair with a gun in his hand. A bright yellow smiley face was painted on the wall across from him.

"Bored. Again." The tone certainly indicated that.

"What?" He almost regretted asking that, for his flat mate jumped up on the chair, shooting the gun randomly.

"Bored! Bored! I am bored!"

John rolled his eyes, running over and snatching the gun from him. "Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson is putting that on our rent, it's getting frustrating!"

A hint of a smile played at the ends of Sherlock Holmes' mouth. But only a hint. "There's no work, John, what else am I supposed to be up to?" He hopped off the chair and sat back down in it.

"I know we haven't had anything… particularly exciting since Irene Adler, but it doesn't mean you need to go around shooting walls because of it!" John glared at Sherlock, stopping when he noticed the way his friend's mouth hardened. "Sherlock, I'm sorry…"

"No need for apologies. We…. We hardly knew her."

John internally slapped himself. Irene Adler, The Woman, the dominatrix… she'd been killed a month ago, even after Sherlock had rescued her. But it wasn't an attack. She'd drowned accidentally, back with her family. It had been somewhat of a hard blow to the consulting detective, though he hardly showed it. At the mention of her, Sherlock would quiet and turn away. To mourn, most likely.

"D'you want some tea, Sherlock?"

"That would be lovely."

But they wouldn't get that tea. Not just yet.


	3. Chapter 3

She hadn't actually felt it when the carriage crashed. Oh, she'd heard the noise. The wood splintering around her, the cry of the driver, the crunch as it rolled into the lamppost, the terrified neighs of the horses… People screaming and crying out, that's what she heard.

Then the noises changed. They were loud, shrill, annoying. Just great. Was this purgatory, hell perhaps? Loud and shrill and strange. She didn't dare to open her eyes. Her heart pounded. Pounding. She was still alive, but barely, for the poison was starting to become overwhelming. Blood trickled down her face and neck.

People were still calling out. She could see lights flashing faintly from behind her eyelids. She dared to open her eyes.

What strange sights greeted her. Strangely shaped things rushing towards the area. Blue and red lights. Even the people seemed to look different. She moved her hand weakly to try and push some of the wreckage away from her. Oddly enough, she was still in the carriage destruction.

Some cries reached her ears.

"There's somebody in there!"

"Get an ambulance!"

"How did that even get there?"

She closed her eyes again. Her heart pounded. Unbeknownst to her, the adrenaline was keeping the deadly poison at bay.

Pure dumb luck.


	4. Chapter 4

"Sir, there's been a… carriage crash. On Northumberland." Sally Donovan stared at the reports in her hand with a rather skeptical look on her face before handing them to Lestrade. She was supposed to be leaving already, damn it, but then Colby ran in with the news of a crash that made no sense. It pretty much killed her chance of going home and enjoying a good nap. "They've found somebody in the wreckage; she's been transported to St Bart's. There was a good deal of poison in her system, as well as injuries from the crash. She's in stable condition, last I heard." She stopped, a puzzled expression on her face. "How can there even be a carriage crash, sir?"

"Honestly, Donovan?" Lestrade dropped the reports on his desk and put his head in his hands. "I have no idea." He rubbed his eyes and started to look through the reports. An exasperated sigh escaped the man. "Go down and check it out. I'll read through these reports."

"Yes, sir." She grimaced and left, shrugging on a jacket. "Anything else before I go?"

"Call him. I want to know how the hell a bloody carriage was able to crash in the first place."

She nodded, her cell phone glued to her ear. "Oi, freak. We need you on Northumberland Avenue, now. Some type of carriage crash with a carriage that's not supposed to be there." A pause as he responded. "Just go, I'll meet you and Dr. Watson there."

There was no chance of a nap now.


End file.
